Closure of Local hospitals

Closure of local hospitals

The enclosed copy of a letter to Ben Bennet Project Director of the
Bristol Primary Care Trust puts forward a case for the retention of a
local hospital, in this case Keynsham. Hospital. (I have altered the name
and address for reasons of privacy of the letters published on
www.lettertothepm.co.uk)

There are a number of these local hospitals throughout the country that
are threatened with closure. Patients will be sent to hospitals that are
in most cases located many miles away.

When we are all aware that the oil on which our transport system depends
is a very finite resource, due to run out in 50 years or so why is the
government not trying to really maintain local resources, which means that
people will not need to use precious fuel travelling unnecessarily?

I hardly feel that the decision to close any of these local hospitals is
based on any reason other than lack of funding.

As many of these hospitals offer respite care their closure would seem to
indicate that the government is reluctant to provide high quality care for
the elderly and those patients who whilst not elderly have become
terminally ill.

Is this desire to limit funding to a lower than required level based on
the belief that the people of this wonderful nation of ours are unwilling
to spend more money on the National Health Service.

No government, that I can remember, has ever asked me whether I am willing
to spend more on National Insurance and Health. Well I am! But what I am
concerned about and I believe others are concerned about is: waste and the
misuse of our health service by people from other countries who take
advantage of our health and welfare system.

Provided that the government does try to carefully manage the health
service to minimise waste I am quite happy to pay more and I believe that
most of the people are also prepared to pay more.

RE: Keynsham Hospital- Review of Services & Public Consultation

I have made my views clear before in a letter
to the BPCT. However, I welcome a further opportunity to support the
retention of Keynsham hospital. At that time my brother was being looked
after in Keynsham hospital. He died last May in the hospital. He was 56
years old and had been fighting to recover from an incurable brain tumour.

He had the choice of being looked after in either St Martins hospital in
Bath or Keynsham or in a care home. He preferred Keynsham for at least
three reasons:

The spatial arrangement of the wards means that patients have a better
outlook than in St Martins, which has beds opposite each other.

A care home is a more claustrophobic place –he didn’t want to be in his
own room. But he had his own space at Keynsham. There was a wall for
photos which we used

the staff at Keynsham are the best nursing team that he had encountered

The latter reason is not attainable by decisions about buildings or money.
Good people are priceless they are not easy to find.

Treatment of Staff

The hospital is local and its closure means
breaking up that team of wonderful people. Like all other local hospitals,
the staff will be redeployed and forced to travel further afield and incur
additional time and money on travel to a new place of work where they may
not be happy. Contented hospital staff also provide support for relatives
by their dedication to patient care and cheery manner.

Treatment of Patients

Patients will no doubt receive fewer visits
from friends and family owing to greater travelling distance and the
limitations of travel by public transport. I used to visit every evening
but one, but I was able to do this as I have a car. To travel further to
visit a loved one would mean using extra fuel and may be not possible
after the end of the working day for some relatives.

Environmental Factors

The closure of Keynsham hospital and other
local hospitals places a greater burden on the environment as well as
people (staff, patients and family/friends) due to:

Wasting precious fuel: travel to work, to use essential services
(healthcare, education & food shopping) and recreational amenities should
be minimised to conserve fuel (that will without doubt become increasingly
expensive and possibly rationed in the near future)

The hospital is functional as a local resource and is located in an
accessible part of Keynsham (buildings should not be destroyed without
very good reason)

Closure of Keynsham and other local hospitals forces more traffic onto
the road system thus increasing pollution and stress on drivers and their
passengers

Local hospitals can provide emergency relief when there is unexpected
demand on general hospitals e.g. The Royal United in Bath. Local hospitals
are an important part of the defence of our country in exceptional
circumstances: major flu outbreak, natural disaster and terrorist attack

An Ethical Proposal

For the reasons given above I don’t believe
that the closure of Keynsham hospital is an ethical proposal. Please ask
yourself the following questions:

will patients be better off?

will nursing and support staff be better off?

will the relatives and friends of the patient be better off?

isn’t this proposal just a way of saving money for the health trust?

does this proposal respect the wishes of local people?

If item 4. above is a prime factor, then it is about
time that the trust and others made their grievances known to the
government. I personally would prefer to pay more for a decent health
service than pay for its failure. The better our health service, the
healthier we should be and consequently the cost of keeping us healthy
should be less in future.

After last year I feel dreadful, tired, but
at least I feel strongly that the staff of Keynsham hospital did their
best to make my brother's life comfortable.

Yours sincerely

name withheld for privacy

A reply to the letter to the PM
above has been included below.

Richmond House
79 Whitehall
LONDON
SW1A 2NL

28 April 2006

Dear Citizen,

Thank you for your recent letter to Tony Blair, regarding
the future of hospitals in your local area. The large number of letters
sent to the Prime Minister means that it is not always possible for him to
reply personally. Staff at the Department of Health have there fore been
asked to reply to your letter on his behalf.

I am sorry to hear of your concern over the future of your
local hospitals. However, the configuration of local services is a matter
for the local NHS, working in partnership with its local community. The
future of local health services is for local decision making which should
take full account of local circumstances. It is for the PCT to make this
decision. This is where the specific local knowledge and expertise lies
and it is not appropriate for the Department to become involved at this
stage.

Ministers have no formal part in this process unless this
matter is referred by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. You have taken
the most appropriate first step by writing directly to Bristol Primary
Care Trust, who can address the concerns you raise.
I am sorry that I cannot be of any further assistance.